The Appeal to Nature Fallacy

Real talk: natural isn’t inherently ‘better’

A lot of people believe that when it comes to food, treatments, or medicine, “natural” is better, healthier, and safer than “unnatural” or synthetic alternatives. Natural simply means derived from nature, whereas synthetic options have been altered (for some specific reason) in the laboratory.

While beneficial things like aspirin are derived from nature (but even that is now made synthetically), remember that just because something is natural, doesn’t mean it is inherently good for us. As with EVERYTHING we encounter, the dose makes the poison and many 'natural' substances can kill us. Really, any chemical—even water & air—can be toxic if we are exposed to certain levels.

Some believe that “natural” products are safe because they believe these medicines are free of chemicals-- but they are not. Everything is a chemical. We, humans, are literally sacks of chemicals! Science technology has allowed us to create synthetic alternatives to "natural" ingredients that improve quality, stability, and/or performance of certain ingredients.

A synthetic ingredient is anything not found and harvested directly from nature. Synthetic materials can be entirely lab-created or can be harvested from nature and processed in a lab to refine the raw material.

Don’t fall prey to the appeal to nature fallacy! Natural is not synonymous with ‘safe’ and is not INHERENTLY better. Let’s look at some examples: